Tag Archives: ADF: Erik Stanley

Accounting Web: Now several tax-exempt organizations are taking a bold, proactive stance. The vocal Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian ministry based in Arizona that organized the first Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008, believes the law violates First Amendment rights by muzzling the clergy. It wants to press the matter until it’s decided in court. “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group.

WorldNetDaily: Preaching about scriptural principles and applying them to the positions of candidates for public office is not “political” speech, it’s “core religious expression from a spiritual leader to his congregants.” That’s according to Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which reported today that nearly 1,600 pastors of churches across the nation participated in its Pulpit Initiative this past weekend. [more]

KCRA (CNN): Johnson’s anti-Obama sermonizing likely violated the so-called Johnson Amendment, an Internal Revenue Service rule that forbids churches that receive tax-exempt status from the federal government to intervene in “any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.” But Johnson appears comfortable with defying the IRS. His sermon was part of a national campaign by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal organization that has organized Pulpit Freedom Sunday since 2008, encouraging pastors to flout the Johnson Amendment with political endorsements from the pulpit. The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that, and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” said Erik Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson Amendment as unconstitutional.”

Non Profit Quarterly: The ADF plans to “actively represent any church or pastor who has been threatened or punished for actively speaking from the pulpit.” This event is intended to provoke the IRS into taking action so that the ADF can challenge and try to overturn the Johnson Amendment (the 1954 change in the U.S. tax code which prohibited tax-exempt organizations from endorsing or opposing political candidates). Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for ADF, told Fox News, “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge. We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened. We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.” . . . The final list of churches that participated in this year’s Pulpit Freedom Sunday action will soon be released by ADF.

CBN (includes video):
Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is behind the Pulpit Freedom Sunday, spoke more about why he believes the current law is wrong. Click play for his comments, following this report

Huffington Post (Reuters): Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group was not pushing any particular political agenda and participants came from both conservative and liberal churches. However, the event in past years has tended to be dominated by evangelical fundamentalist churches and conservative causes such as opposition to abortion and gay-marriage. [more]

Erik Stanley at Townhall: In other words, the arguments against Pulpit Freedom Sunday fail because the premise for those arguments is all wrong . . . But pastors who participate in Pulpit Freedom Sunday are not engaging in a “political crusade.” Instead, they are simply applying Scripture and theological doctrine to the positions held by the candidates running for office. Pastors have been applying scriptural teaching to circumstances facing their congregations for centuries. This is not “political” speech. Rather, it’s core religious expression from a spiritual leader to his congregants. That kind of expression is at the very center of the freedom of speech and religion protections in the First Amendment.
The real question is this: When has the government ever been allowed to condition any government-recognized status (such as tax-exempt status) on the surrender of a constitutionally protected freedom?

Christian Post (Oct. 5): Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has sent out a letter purporting to explain the law regarding “electioneering by nonprofit organizations.” Those who receive it need to know it’s full of inaccuracies and misstatements and is plainly intended to intimidate churches and pastors and to sideline their voices during this election season.

World Mag: Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) launched Pulpit Freedom Sunday in 2008. They did so because it has been illegal for pastors to endorse candidates from the pulpit since Congress passed the Johnson Amendment in 1954. ADF legal counsel Erik Stanley said pastors should be able to apply “biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections. The purpose [of this event] is to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit.”

Examiner.com: Pastors took this move to prompt the IRS to enforce a 1954 tax code known as the Johnson Amendment proposed by the then Senator Lyndon B. Johnson that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, charities and churches from making political endorsements. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” was organized by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom. The organization wants the IRS to press the matter so it can be decided in court. It believes the law violates the First Amendment by banning preachers from preaching politics from the pulpit. According to Fox News , Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group said: “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor and not the IRS decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

Lilly Fowler at the Christian Century (Religion News Service) (Oct. 7): New procedures for conducting church audits have been pending since 2009, which has left the IRS virtually impotent in conducting any kind of new investigations. The IRS did not respond to questions seeking comment. Despite the lack of manpower, organizations such as Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal ministry that first launched “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” in 2008, say they take the IRS restriction seriously — even as they disagree with it. “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund. | Report also at the Washington Post

Randall Lord at The Town Talk: According to Erick Stanley with the Alliance Defending Freedom, “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit.” As a Libertarian candidate, I’m all for their liberties, too, religious and otherwise, but these pastors are misguided. | —Randall Lord of Shreveport is a Libertarian candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 4th District of Louisiana.

WTVR.com: When Ron Johnson takes take his pulpit on Sunday, he will willfully break the law. After presenting his views on President Barack Obama’s handling of religious issues — like abortion, gay marriage, and religious freedom – Johnson will ask his congregation a question. “In light of what I have presented,” Johnson says he will say, “How can you go into that election booth and vote for Barack Obama as president of the United States?” . . . “The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” said Eric Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.”

Reuters: “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” has been staged annually since 2008 by a group called the Alliance Defending Freedom. Its aim is to provoke a challenge from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service in order to file a lawsuit and have its argument out in court. The event has grown steadily in size, but the IRS has yet to respond – even though the pastors tape their sermons and mail them to the agency . . . Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group was not pushing any particular political agenda and participants came from both conservative and liberal churches . . . Stanley said that if the IRS continued to ignore the speeches, it could become clear it was not enforcing the ban and hand preachers the de facto right to do as they wish from the pulpit . . . But experts who spoke to Reuters said they do not expect the agency to move against Pulpit Freedom Sunday this year, chiefly because of the absence of a new audit procedure for churches.
“If the IRS wanted to get serious about this, there are already plenty of blatant violations they could pursue,” said Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington-based group that monitors and informs the IRS about tax-code violations

NewsMax: Baptist Pastor Mark Harris stood before his flock in North Carolina on Sunday and joined hundreds of other religious leaders in deliberately breaking the law in an election-year campaign that tests the role of churches in politics . . . Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel of the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group was not pushing any particular political agenda and participants came from both conservative and liberal churches. However, the event in past years has tended to be dominated by evangelical fundamentalist churches and conservative causes such as opposition to abortion and gay-marriage. [more]

The Blaze (includes video): “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund. [...] Today’s parishioners, he said, are starving for religious leaders to act as “the moral compass of society.” [Pastor Jim Garlow] said he’s witnessed pastors who boldly speak on political issues receive standing ovations.

Fox News (Oct. 7): “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.” Stanley said pastors attending “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” will “preach sermons that will talk about the candidates running for office” and then “make a specific recommendation.” The sermons will be recorded and sent to the IRS. “We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened,” he said. “We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.”

Journal Gazette (Bloomberg Editorial View): “No pastor has been punished or threatened with punishment by the IRS for participating in Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” wrote Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group backing the protest. And that, Stanley told FoxNews.com last week, is precisely the problem. “We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened,” he said. “We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. “We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.” Stanley might be surprised. This is not a battle for free speech – in the pulpit or out.

The Town Talk (Oct. 7): That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom started Pulpit Freedom Sunday, to protect a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government censorship or control,” the response letter states. “After all, it’s the job of the pastor and the church leadership not the IRS to decide what is said from the pulpit. No pastor should ever fear IRS censorship or punishment when he stands in the pulpit to preach.”

IBTimes.com: The Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund, began organizing its “Pulpit Free Sunday” in 2008 in response to the IRS regulation. The ADF is a Christian legal ministry that specializes in taking cases where they believe “religious liberty” is at stake, most notably in defense of businesses or organizations that discriminate against gays and lesbians . . . “The IRS has the ability and authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” Stanley told CNN. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.” . . . CNN reports ADF, which some critics have accused of being a Republican front group, was unable to put them in touch with a church that plans to endorse President Barack Obama this Sunday.

Kelly Phillips Erb at Forbes: So far, this election has been tame by comparison. That may change this weekend: this Sunday, October 7, marks “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.” The event, which is the brainchild of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), Alliance Defending Freedom (previously called the Alliance Defense Fund), is a call for pastors to speak from the pulpit and to address specific candidates, issues and politics head on. The sermons will be taped and sent to the IRS – kind of like a big dare. ADF is not only hoping for but seeking a response from the IRS. The goal is to challenge a revocation of status in the courts as against freedom of speech and freedom of religion. [more]

TheTownTalk.com: The alliance responded with a letter, signed “Erik W. Stanley, Senior Legal Counsel,” which states that Americans United’s letter is “intended to intimidate churches and pastors into silence.” “That’s why Alliance Defending Freedom started Pulpit Freedom Sunday, to protect a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government censorship or control,” the response letter states. “After all, it’s the job of the pastor and the church leadership not the IRS to decide what is said from the pulpit. No pastor should ever fear IRS censorship or punishment when he stands in the pulpit to preach.”

STLToday: About 1,400 ministers draw a line at their pulpits to bring down tax collector’s decree that penalizes churches daring to talk politics or endorse issues . . . “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund.

KJRH.com: When Ron Johnson takes take his pulpit on Sunday, he will willfully break the law. After presenting his views on President Barack Obama’s handling of religious issues — like abortion, gay marriage, and religious freedom – Johnson will ask his congregation a question.
“In light of what I have presented,” Johnson says he will say, “How can you go into that election booth and vote for Barack Obama as president of the United States?” . . . The goal: Force the IRS to come down on these churches so that the Alliance Defending Freedom, whose network includes 2,200 attorneys, can test the Johnson Amendment’s constitutionality. “The IRS has the ability and the authority to regulate their sermons. We are giving them the opportunity to do that and if they challenge that, we will challenge that in court,” said Eric Stanley, Alliance Defending Freedom’s senior legal counsel. “It is all about creating a test case to find the Johnson amendment as unconstitutional.”

The Christian Post: The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has released a guide for religious bodies regarding the extent to which politics can be propagated from the pulpit. Entitled “Preaching Politics From the Pulpit” and released on Tuesday, it is the third guide on the topic that Pew has released . . . “The First Amendment prohibits the government from enacting laws prohibiting the free exercise of religion. A pastor preaching a sermon from the pulpit is one of the core activities of the free exercise of religion,” wrote Erik Stanley of ADF on a blog. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday is a head-on constitutional challenge to the Johnson Amendment, which is blatantly unconstitutional. This unjust law, which never should have been applied to churches and pastors, has had a devastating effect on their constitutionally protected rights.”

Philantropy Today: Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona group backing the effort.

Huffington Post: “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” said Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Arizona-based Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund.

CBN (includes video): “Every pastor and every church has the right to decide what their pastor preaches from the pulpit and to not have that dictated to them by the IRS,” the ADF attorney Erik Stanley said.

One News Now: Erik Stanley, an attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, supports the event. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday has really become a nationwide movement of pastors who are reclaiming their constitutional right to decide what is said from their pulpits — and to not be intimidated when they stand and proclaim biblical truth, even in the realm of politics and in candidates and elections,” says Stanley. “These pastors are believing that politicians should not get a free pass from moral and biblical scrutiny during election season.” [more]

Anugrah Kumar at the Christian Post (Oct. 8): “Pastors should decide what they preach from the pulpit, not the IRS,” Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said in the statement. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections. The question is, ‘Who should decide the content of sermons: pastors or the IRS?’”

WBRZ.com (video embedded): The group called Alliance Defending Freedom is asking preachers to deliver a political sermon this Sunday. The Family of Faith Church of Baton Rouge is one of 32 churches that have already signed up; even though the pastors know that they could see trouble come tax time. “All through college and all through seminary that’s what I heard. You can’t speak on political issues because if you do, you lose your tax exempt status for your church and your members can’t take their tithes,” says Family of Faith Church pastor Joel Davis.

WorldNetDaily: The Alliance Defending Freedom contends the AU letter is misleading and disingenuous, explaining that the church in New York had its “determination letter” revoked, not its “tax exempt” status. The distinction is crucial, ADF told WND, because there was basically no effect on the church from this IRS action. Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for Americans Defending Freedom, told WND that churches don’t need a determination letter from the IRS to be considered tax-exempt. “IRS section 508(c)1 (a) automatically exempts churches, and no advance determination letter is necessary,” he explained.

Bloomberg Editors: No pastor has been punished or threatened with punishment by the IRS for participating in Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” wrote Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative group backing the protest. And that, Stanley told FoxNews.com last week, is precisely the problem. “We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened,” he said. “We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.”

Maureen McDermott Gill at Journal Tribune: This Sunday, Oct. 7, is “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” a nationwide event sponsored by the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization providing legal services to churches and individuals who want “greater religious freedom,” as they say. What these churches really want, however, is the unbridled freedom to influence American politics. Unlike the rest of us, who are allowed to express opinions about American politics, work for certain candidates, and attempt to influence others to our way of thinking, churches want to do it without making any monetary contributions to actually run the government that protects their freedoms. Pursuant to the IRS, churches are exempted from taxation – provided they stay the hell out of politics. The churches don’t like that . . . As far as I’m concerned, the clergy of any denomination can say whatever they want, but I don’t want to subsidize them to do so.

One News Now: “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teaching to all areas of life, including candidates and elections,” Stanley contends. “The real question is who should decide the content of sermons: pastors or the IRS?”

One News Now: The purpose is to make sure the pastor, not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit. Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Erik Stanley tells OneNewsNow that this more of a problem than people realize. “A lot of people may not realize it, but since 1954, the IRS has inserted itself into the process of what is said from the pulpit and has punished and threatened to punish churches for something the pastor says that may issue support or opposition for one candidate or another,” he explains.

LifeNews: “Pastors should decide what they preach from the pulpit, not the IRS,” said Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley of ADF. “It’s outrageous for pastors and churches to be threatened or punished by the government for applying biblical teachings to all areas of life, including candidates and elections. The question is, ‘Who should decide the content of sermons: pastors or the IRS?’” “No government-recognized status can be conditioned upon the surrender of a constitutionally protected right,” Stanley explained. “No one would suggest a pastor give up his church’s tax-exempt status if he wants to keep his constitutional protection against illegal search and seizure or cruel and unusual punishment. Likewise, no one should be asking him to give up his church’s tax-exempt status to be able to keep his constitutionally protected right to free speech.”

The New American: A small army of pastors across America is planning to defy the IRS rules against politics in the pulpit by participating in what they are calling “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” October 7. The event, which is being organized by Alliance Defending Freedom, will target the 1954 IRS statute, called the Johnson Amendment, that prohibits tax-exempt organizations, including churches, from endorsing candidates for office. “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit,” said Erik Stanley, an ADF spokesman. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

Nathan Cherry at Engage Family Minute (links to audio): It’s undebatable that America has benefited greatly from the influence of pastors over the years. But, are today’s pulpits free? Attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom don’t think so and they are using Pulpit Freedom Sunday as a way to protect not only the proper role of the church in our society, but also your right to hear and speak the truth of the Gospel. On Today’s episode of Engaging the Issues, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom explains what pastors can do to protect religious freedom and why they should.

WSET ABC 13 (includes video): The group Alliance Defending Freedom says it’s the pastor’s job, not the IRS, to determine what is said from the pulpit. The group is also asking pastors to send their sermons to the IRS, in hopes a court battle ensues.

Christian Institute (includes video): Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom said: “It’s very ironic that a group with ‘separation of church and state’ in its name is arguing for more governmental monitoring and control of churches. “That’s not the separation of church and state. These letters are nothing more than intimidation tactics.

Opposing Views: Pulpit Freedom Sunday was organized by the conservative Christian group Alliance Defending Freedom. Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com: “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor, and not the IRS, decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

Christian Post: “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit…It is a head-on constitutional challenge,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the ADF, told FoxNews.com.
Read more at http://global.christianpost.com/news/preachers-defend-free-speech-and-religious-freedom-with-pulpit-freedom-sunday-video-82004/#Azu4ctPW26J126OO.99

Nathan Cherry at the Engage Family Blog: On October 7th the Alliance Defending Freedom will host Pulpit Freedom Sunday . . . Erik Stanley, legal counsel with ADF said: “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit. It is a head-on constitutional challenge…We’re hoping the IRS will respond by doing what they have threatened. We have to wait for it to be applied to a particular church or pastor so that we can challenge it in court. We don’t think it’s going to take long for a judge to strike this down as unconstitutional.”

The Blaze (several videos embedded): In an effort to combat what many preachers believe to be a free-speech violation, they will engage in The Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) Pulpit Freedom Sunday initiative. A description of the event explains, in detail, why the event was launched and what it intends to accomplish . . . “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for ADF, said in an interview with Fox News. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.” [more]

Fox News (video): More than 1,000 pastors are planning to challenge the IRS next month by deliberately preaching politics ahead of the presidential election despite a federal ban on endorsements from the pulpit . . . “The purpose is to make sure that the pastor — and not the IRS — decides what is said from the pulpit,” Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the group, told FoxNews.com. “It is a head-on constitutional challenge.”

One News Now: Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom says Americans United is trying to frighten churches into silence about elections and “moral and biblical issues confronting the candidates.” “But the reality is that no pastor should ever fear the IRS or Americans United for that matter when they stand in their pulpit to preach biblical truth,” Stanley asserts. “That’s our message, and … no church or pastor should be afraid of these letters that are being sent out by Americans United.”

Alan Sears at the Alliance Defending Freedom Blog: Federal law specifically prohibits zoning officials from subjecting religious organizations to this type of unequal treatment,” says Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley. “Upper Arlington will allow other groups to occupy a building in this zone, but it won’t allow this school. “No city should use its zoning code to discriminate against a Christian school and keep its students in inferior and overcrowded facilities,” Stanley says. “A city’s zoning code cannot give preferential treatment to non-religious institutions that function similarly to a Christian school.”

One News Now: Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom says the city’s zoning codes favor nonreligious businesses and organizations. “So, for instance, a daycare or other nonprofit use could go into that building and use it without having to obtain zoning permission, [but] the Tree of Life is not able to go in to use the building as a private school,” he explains. “That’s just discriminatory and violates the religious land use law, and that’s why we brought the lawsuit in the first place.”

Christian Post: “People in America are allowed to debate these issues except for pastors from the pulpit,” said Erik W. Stanley, senior legal counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, on Family Talk last week. “The pastors of America, your voices need to be heard on these vital issues. It’s unjust, it’s unconstitutional that you’ve been censored and taken out of the public debate every time an election season rolls around.
“This restriction must be declared unconstitutional.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed an appeal today on behalf of Tree of Life Christian Schools against the city of Upper Arlington for refusing to grant the school a permit to use its own new building

Upper Arlington News: A federal judge sided with the city last week in a discrimination lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund — now called Alliance Defending Freedom — on behalf of Tree of Life Christian School . . . Erik Stanley, an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the group is considering its options.”We’re still studying the ruling,” Stanley said. “No decisions have been at this point about what our next step will be.” [more]

Christian Post: Earlier this year, the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit against Rockdale on behalf of New Generation over the county’s zoning laws, which forbid churches from meeting on property smaller than three acres. “Government officials should not use zoning restrictions to close down religious services of small, start-up churches, so we commend the county for agreeing to a court order that allows this church to meet while the case moves forward,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley in a statement. “It’s unconstitutional and a violation of federal law to target churches with these kinds of zoning restrictions. Small ministries like this one shouldn’t be forced underground simply because they can’t afford a property of more than three acres.”

One News Now: Erik Stanley, an ADF attorney, explains why the county ordinance needs to be addressed. “Under the city’s rules, only non-religious groups and large, wealthy churches can find an adequate place to meet — and that just doesn’t make sense,” he says. “This is exactly why federal law protects churches from such arbitrary and subjective zoning decisions. We hope the city will change its zoning regulations and eliminate the need to continue this case.”

Rockdale County agreed to a federal court injunction issued Friday that allows a church to temporarily reconvene in a building where the county previously denied access because the property was less than three acres in size.

One News Now: “Government officials shouldn’t use zoning restrictions to close down religious services of small, start-up churches,” argues ADF attorney Erik Stanley. “Not only is it irresponsible to target small ministries dedicated to serving the community, it’s unconstitutional and violates federal law.

Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: Where did America’s churches ever get the idea that it was okay to invite IRS officials into the process of sermon preparation and allow them to wield the power of censorship over what your pastor says from the pulpit? Such a regime is not okay, and indeed, it is unconstitutional.

One News Now: Attorney Erik Stanley of the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) says the complaints are “the same tiresome claims from a group that is intent on bullying churches and intimidating them into silence.” “What this pastor did in Kentucky was nothing more than to exercise his constitutional right to speak freely from his pulpit,” Stanley asserts. “No pastor anywhere should ever have to fear the IRS, or Americans United or any other group for that matter when they stand and they speak biblical truth in the pulpit. That’s all this pastor was doing.”

Erik Stanley at the Speak Up Movement Church Blog: The Devon Park United Methodist Church in Wilmington, North Carolina, served as a polling place and also put a message on its church sign that read, “A true marriage is male and female and God.” Voters saw the sign on their way in to vote and some complained about the message. One woman even called the message on the sign “voter intimidation.” . . . The elections board for the county where the church is located plans to address the issue of the church’s sign in the coming days.

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